He laughed. “All I said was tell Desiree hello.” Lorenzo had been eager to leave a family dinner so he and Desiree could go on a weekender.
Lorenzo paused with a stack of debris. “You know what they say about payback. Your time is coming and I’m going to have a front-row seat. I’m putting my money on Randi.”
“If you want to waste your money, fine. Two or three months from now, Randi and I both will have moved on.”
“Uh-huh. If that’s what you believe. You forget I’ve known you your entire life. You have never reacted to a woman the way you did with her.”
Cedric shrugged. “She’s a beautiful woman.” He blew off the comment, but Lorenzo was right. No other woman had ever rendered him speechless. And no other woman had invaded his dreams. He chalked it up to strong sexual attraction.
They worked for another two hours, then he and Lorenzo left to pick up Khalil and Lexia from the airport. Lorenzo drove his car, so he could drop Lexia and KJ off at Cedric’s house. Afterward, he would meet them later at the house.
When they arrived, Khalil surveyed the two-story building. “You outdid yourself, cuz. This turned out better than I’d hoped.”
“Thanks. You said you wanted it to be similar to your original one. I’ll start installing the flooring next week.” After Cedric and Lorenzo had visited Khalil’s LA fitness center to get a sense of the layout and discuss what Khalil wanted, Khalil had given them free rein to come up with the design. “Let’s go inside.” Using the blueprint, Cedric pointed out where everything would go on both floors. Having two stories would allow ample space for Khalil to incorporate his accessible equipment for those with various disabilities.
“Are you still on schedule for it to be finished in June?”
“Yes. If everything goes as planned, we might be done the last week of May.”
Khalil spun around. A wide grin covered his face. “Now that’s what I’m talking about.” They did a fist bump. “Maybe we can turn it into the next family reunion.” He glanced around the room again. “Malcolm should’ve come up to see it.” He took out his phone and snapped several pictures before they headed back to the car.
On the drive, Cedric asked, “Did he decide whether he’s going to retire this year?” Malcolm played professional football as a running back and had mentioned hanging up his cleats. He planned to join Khalil in the fitness business.
“He hasn’t made an announcement yet, but I think he’s done. He said he’s tired of seeing the twins’ milestones by video. He missed their first steps and barely made it home for their first Christmas.”
“Yeah, that would make me consider retiring.”
“Speaking of families, when are you going to get started?”
“I’m just going to be the cool uncle.”
Khalil folded his arms. “You’re still singing that tune? I guarantee there’s going to be a woman who’ll make you change it.”
A vision of Randi floated through Cedric’s mind and he promptly dismissed it. “I keep telling y’all there isn’t one woman who can make me change my song. I like being single.”
“Said every one of us. And all of us are married. Hell, I yelled the loudest about staying single and you know my story. Trust me, you want the one who can give you everything you think you’d be missing. There’s nothing like it.”
“So you keep saying,” Cedric muttered and turned up the music.
Khalil chuckled but didn’t say anything else.
When they arrived at the house and entered, the almost two-year-old Khalil Jr. ran over to his father. “Daddy!”
Khalil scooped up the toddler. “Hey, little man.”
“Hey, KJ,” Cedric said.
“Hi, Unca Ced.”
Cedric smiled. Technically, KJ was Cedric’s first cousin, once removed. However, to make things less confusing, the cousins had all decided that the kids would call the adults uncle or aunt.
Pretty soon, the house was full of food, conversation and laughter. After dinner, they settled the kids in the family room with a movie and snacks, while the adults sat in the kitchen.
“Now that little ears are out of hearing, Ced, what’s going on with those fires at construction sites?” Alisha asked. “Lorenzo said they think it’s personal.”
Khalil shifted on his stool to face Cedric. “You didn’t say anything about that.”
“They found a partially burned piece of wood with a few visible letters. It was just ‘Ced’ and two letters before it—A-Y.”
“Someone wants you to pay for something,” Lexia said.
Jabari, who had been standing between the family room and kitchen, came over to the table. “Do you need me to look into it?” The former military officer now co-owned a tech company and served as its chief security information officer. He had a background in cybersecurity.
“Nah, not right now. I’ll wait to see what Randi turns up.” Too late, Cedric realized he’d used her first name.
“Randy?” Alisha asked, reaching for a strawberry from the fruit tray in the center of the table. “Who’s he?”
“She,” Lorenzo corrected, “is the fire or arson investigator. And the woman who’s going to make me two hundred dollars richer. I’ve never seen a woman make Ced speechless, but she did.”
Jeremy burst out laughing. “Wait, what?” He whipped his head around. “Ced, you’re dating the investigator? Zo, why didn’t you tell me?”
“I just did.” He smiled and lifted his beer bottle in a mock toast to Cedric. “Checkmate.”
Cedric opened his mouth to tell Lorenzo just what he could do with his checkmate, but remembered the children. “It’s nothing.”
“Oh, it must be something if she had my big brother tongue-tied.”
Cedric waved him off. “Jeremy, it’s just physical attraction. Y’all act like it’s never happened before, and I don’t know why.” He gestured around the room. “None of you would be married if you hadn’t been attracted to your women.”
Jabari draped an arm around Alisha’s shoulder. “Bingo.”
He met the amused gazes of everyone around the table and realized he had played right into their hands. He lifted his beer bottle and took a swig. “Again, it’s nothing.” At least that’s what he kept telling himself.
Chapter 8
“I don’t know why you drove all the way over here to pick me up, Cedric,” Randi said as she followed him out to his car early Saturday evening. “It would’ve been easier to just give me your address and let me drive over. It doesn’t make sense for you to make two round trips. That’s just a waste of gas.”
Cedric held the car door open. “Are you done?”
She didn’t comment. They had argued about it earlier when he called and shared his plans. Well, she had argued. He’d flat out refused.
“It doesn’t matter whether you live here or across the street from me, I’d still pick you up and bring you home. Those are the rules.” He placed a kiss on her temple. “Now stop fussing and get in the car.”
She dropped down in the seat and couldn’t decide if she was mad or flattered. He closed the door and got in on the other side. “Whose rules?”
He started the car and pulled away before answering. “My family’s. My father and uncles drilled into my head, and my brother’s and cousins’ heads, that there are certain rules where a woman is concerned. Always open doors, stand when she comes into the room and—” he slanted her a quick glance “—always pick her up and drop her off at her door.”
She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had a man do all of those things. She’d certainly never had a man stand when she entered a room...until now. All those times Cedric had stood, she’d attributed it to him stretching his legs or to the kiss that sometimes followed. It hadn’t dawned on her that it had to do with his upbringing. It made her curious about all the other men in his family, par
ticularly his father. But that’s as far as it would go because she would most likely never meet them. “Impressive,” she said.
“Not really. It’s just the way we are.”
“Okay. I guess I can’t complain. It is kind of nice.”
“You’ve never had a man do all those things?” Cedric asked with surprise.
“Maybe an opened door here and there, and they picked me up most of the time, but the whole standing thing, nah.” Randi could see how a man might do those things if he was serious about a woman, but not one he was having a fling with.
He lifted her hand and brought it to his lips. “Now you know.”
They fell silent and she watched the passing scenery.
“Are you on call tonight?” he asked.
“No, we’re on a rotating schedule. But I will be starting Tuesday.” She saw his smile in the fading light. “Why?”
“Just want to make sure we’ll be able to enjoy the evening without interruption.”
“Oh.” The tone of his voice made her pulse race. She didn’t even pretend to not know what he meant and she didn’t want any interruptions this time, either. Her desire had been simmering below the surface ever since that interlude in her kitchen. Randi made herself comfortable in the seat, settling in for the ride. At length, she asked, “How long have you lived in your place? Is it a condo? House?”
“It’s a house and I’ve lived there three years. When my cousins come up from LA, they can crash there, rather than a hotel, especially when they’re only staying overnight.”
Randi turned in her seat toward him. “Sounds like you all are pretty close.”
“We are. We used to spend summers together—either there or here. Looking back, I don’t know how my parents and aunts and uncles put up with all the noise.”
She laughed. “How many of you are there?”
“Nine.”
“At one time?”
“Yep,” Cedric said with a chuckle. “Two boys in my family, two in Lorenzo’s—he has a sister—and there are five LA cousins, two girls and three boys.”
She sat back and shook her head. “My parents moved to the LA area five years ago when my dad’s company transferred there, and they decided to downsize. The two-bedroom house barely holds eight of us during the holidays and it gets a little loud. I can’t even imagine that level of noise. We always stayed a week with my grandparents in the summer and I thought it was rowdy with my sister, me and my three cousins, but nine. They probably would’ve put us out after a day.”
“Oh, they did threaten to a few times, especially when we got into fights.” They laughed. “But we always had a lot of fun.”
They continued conversing and laughing until Cedric parked in the driveway of a stately two-story home. “This is nice,” she said.
“Thanks.” He got out and came around to her side.
Standing outside the car, Randi surveyed the neatly manicured lawn and house.
Cedric smiled. “Come on.” He escorted her up the curved walkway to the double doors. He opened one side and gestured her in.
She stood in the entryway and stared. Gleaming wood floors, an elegantly curved staircase leading to the second level and high ceilings greeted her. Each room flowed into the other, and the open layout made the space seem even grander. She followed him past the living room and dining room to a large kitchen boasting stainless steel appliances, two islands with bar stools and an eat-in table for six. A comfortable-looking family room sat on the other side with a stone fireplace and black leather furniture. A large television had been mounted on the opposite wall.
“Well?”
“It’s fabulous. I guess when you said you wanted something bigger, you meant it.”
Cedric laughed softly.
“I can fit two of my condos in here.” She’d thought her sixteen-hundred-square-foot, two-bedroom home was spacious, but she could run laps in his house.
“Have a seat. Can I get you something to drink? I have wine, tea, lemonade.”
Randi sat on the sofa. “Wine, please.”
“Red or white?”
“White.” He went over to a wine cooler and retrieved a bottle. She scooted back and her hand hit a small object. She froze. A pacifier? It had never occurred to her that he might have a child. He had never mentioned one. She scanned the room and noticed a few board books and a small box of toys. She ran a hand over her forehead. Had he been married to the mother? Did he still have a relationship with her? More important, she asked herself, did she want to be involved with someone who had children? Granted, with his confession in the car about how his father had raised him, she couldn’t imagine he’d be negligent in taking care of any children he might have fathered. But still. Cedric’s voice broke into her thoughts.
“Here you go.”
She accepted the glass and took a long drink. “Thank you.”
“Is something wrong?” Cedric lowered himself next to her.
“I’m not sure.” She held up the pacifier. “Why didn’t you tell me you had children?”
He took the pacifier and placed it on an end table. “Because I don’t. That belongs to KJ, my cousin Khalil’s son. They came up yesterday so Khalil could see the progress on the fitness center we’re building for him. The books and toys are here because Lorenzo’s sister has two children and they spend some time here. I keep a few things so Alisha doesn’t have to pack up so much when they visit.”
“Oh.”
“If I did have children, would that be a problem?”
She thought for a moment. A few of her divorced friends often cited the struggle of finding a man who was willing to date a woman with “baggage,” as they called it. It would be unfair to do the same thing. “No. No, it wouldn’t. You’re building a fitness center?” she asked, changing the subject.
Cedric smiled knowingly and sipped his wine. “Yes. This is the third one. There are two in LA.”
“Did you build those, too?”
“No, but we modeled ours after the original site. If you want, I’ll show it to you when you have time.”
“I’d like that.” Even with the strip mall being half burned, Randi could tell he had great building skills.
He stood. “I’m going to start dinner.”
She followed suit. “Do you need any help?”
“Nope. But you can keep me company.”
“And make sure you’re not trying to pass off some takeout as your own,” she said with a sly grin.
“Whatever, woman.” But he was smiling.
Randi made herself comfortable on a bar stool across from where he worked. “So, what are we having?”
“I decided to splurge a little. We’re having crab-stuffed shrimp over white rice with a basil cream sauce, sautéed asparagus and some of my mother’s homemade French bread.”
“Mmm, sounds fabulous, especially the bread. That’s probably one of my most favorite things to eat. A nice warm loaf with butter... But I’ve been trying to cut back.”
“And hers is the best. She makes me a loaf and all I have to do is pop it in the oven. One of these days, I’m going to go over and have her teach me how to do it. But for now...” He held up the loaf. “This is it. Besides, since you’re already questioning my cooking skills, I wouldn’t want to ruin the meal.” He set the temperatures on his double oven.
She rolled her eyes. “I never said you couldn’t cook.”
Cedric cut her a look. “Uh-huh.” He went to the refrigerator and removed several items, then set them on the counter.
Randi sipped her wine and observed as he expertly added ingredients to a bowl of crab and mixed it gently. He seemed to be quite comfortable in the kitchen. The last guy who had “cooked” for her had ordered from one of those online meal services, heated it up and presented it on a plate. It turned out to be overcooked because he couldn�
��t even follow the heating instructions. She’d found out only because she’d gone to throw something away in the kitchen and saw the empty containers. However, as Cedric stuffed the crab mixture into the jumbo-sized shrimp and wrapped them in bacon, she knew she was in for a treat. She slid off the stool and wandered over to the sliding doors on the other side of the kitchen. “This is nice,” Randi said of his sunroom. It was walled in on three sides and the fourth side opened to a large backyard. Two semicircular sectionals surrounded a sunken fire pit. “This looks like a cool place to relax. What do you do when it gets cold?”
“Thanks. Push that button on the wall.”
She pushed the button and a wall of tinted windows rolled down like a garage door, effectively enclosing the space but still allowing for the view. “This is fabulous!”
A few minutes later, Cedric washed his hands and came to stand next to her. He opened the sliding glass door and motioned her through.
The area extended past the kitchen and had another entry from the family room. It housed a couple of loungers with a small bistro table between them, a gas fireplace and a dining set for six. “Can we eat out here?”
“We can eat anywhere you want.” He kissed her softly.
Randi turned to face him and kissed him again. She could see herself getting addicted to the way his mouth moved over hers. It left her breathless every time. Remember, keep it light, girl.
Placing butterfly kisses along her jaw, he whispered, “If you don’t want burned food, we’d better stop. We can save this for dessert.”
“Oh, we’re having dessert, too?”
“Absolutely. Something sweet and then a little something wicked.”
She had no clue what the sweet dessert might be, but the look in his eyes left no doubt in her mind about the wicked part. And she couldn’t wait...for either.
“You can relax out here if you want.” He turned on the fireplace. “If you get cold, there are blankets in that chest over there.”
She glanced in the direction he’d indicated. She couldn’t help but wonder how many other women he had invited to his home, how many he’d cooked for. Not that it should matter. As long as he didn’t entertain anyone while they were together, whom he saw before and after her wasn’t any of her business. “I think I will. Let me know if you need my help.”
Spark of Desire ; All for You Page 9